Beginner advice

[lightweight]

Hi there

I'm almost finished building a tv cabinet and im wondering how to finish it.
The cabinet is made of pine but most of the wood in my house is dark (Rimu, Totara) so I'd like the finish to darken the pine
I'd prefer not to use poly but at the same time i need the finish to be strong as i have 2 small children :)

Could anyone recommend what i should use and also how to apply the finish as ive only ever used poly before

thanks

-Kris

[orraloon]

Hi Kris and welcome to the site,
Wood stain first then clear poly over it. There are a lot of stains out there some are water based some sprit based. I would go the spirit based stain and a regular poly over that(get the poly that uses turps as a thinner). Follow the instructions for both products but usually the stain is wiped on with a balled up bit of cloth. Let that dry then a light rub with fine sandpaper before the poly is brushed on. For darker shade 2 coats of stain(or more). Experment on a pine offcut to get the shade you are after before attacking the main project. You can get poly with a stain in it but it is not an easy job to get an even shade happening.
Regards
John

[lightweight]

Thanks for the advice

I bought a Rimu stain and ive applied it to a scrap piece of wood to see what it came out like and its kindof a muddy brown color, rimu to me is more of a redish brown... is there some trick to applying a stain or have i possibly got a dud stain?

[rileyp]

The stain will be a different colour to the sample you saw in the shop if your timber isn't the same as in the shop, Eg stains on pine are always much lighter. The samples in the shop always have clear on them as well which makes it look different as well.
When I had my pine floorboards done 10 years ago. The fella just put clear on them.
A few years of sunlight and they are now are dark golden/baltic colour. Where the bookshelf has sat for 10 years its the same colour as the day it was applied...
A lot of factors come into play with timber colour so I doubt your stain is a dud.
cheers rileyp

[munruben]

its kindof a muddy brown color, rimu to me is more of a redish brown... is there some trick to applying a stain or have i possibly got a dud stain? Stain does appear to be murky when it dries but comes to life when you apply a finish over it. You can't see what the finish is going to be from those little samples in the store, For a really nice finish on pine, you should really give it a coat or two of shellac to seal it somewhat and this will prevent some of the blotching you get when finishing pine. A water based stain can be applied and then finished with a clear top coat of WOP or brushed or sprayed poly.
The finished colour of your finish is dictated somewhat by the preparation of the timber prior to staining. If you do seal the pine with shellac as I suggest, the stain you apply will be shades lighter than on the sample you may have seen in the store and may need more than one coat to darken it to somewhere near the colour you expected.

You can also try mixing another stain (same brand and type) that may be reddish in colour to bring your stain to a colour you find more pleasing.

[munruben]

Actually I recently finished a tv cabinet and the colour came up quite well Take a look (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f11/150832d1287703460-just-quickie-image0192-medium-.jpg)

This was watyl Baltic stain and a brushed on poly.